Taiwan News Quick Take

Staff writer, with agencies

CRIME

Teen might have killed baby

Police said yesterday they have questioned a 15-year-old girl suspected of murdering her newborn baby by throwing her out of the window of a second-floor apartment. Police launched an investigation after the baby, with the umbilical cord still attached, was found lying in the street earlier this week in New Taipei City (新北市) and died after being taken to hospital. “The girl said she didn’t know what to do with the baby after she had given birth in the bathroom,” a police spokesman told reporters. “She wanted to flush the baby down the toilet, but it didn’t fit so she threw it out of the window of her second-floor apartment.” The girl, who is in her third-year in junior high school, said she had been impregnated by a classmate, but had hidden her condition from her family.

TOURISM

Landing visa considered

Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak has confirmed news reports that his Cabinet was considering offering landing visa privileges for certain categories of Taiwanese visitors. However, Najib said at a press conference that Taiwanese travelers and businesspeople would be offered landing visa treatment only if doing so did not compromise Malaysia’s relations with China, according to a report in the Chinese-language Sin Chew daily newspaper. Najib said Malaysia would inform China of its plan to avoid any unnecessary negative diplomatic impact. Malaysian Minister of Tourism Ng Yen Yen said recently that Kuala Lumpur would also consider granting visa free privileges to Taiwanese visitors in the future.

TRANSPORTATION

Vending machines increased

Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport is planning to increase the number of vending machines and the convenience stores at its first and second terminals, Taoyuan International Airport Corp said yesterday. The remarks came after Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Lo Shu-lei (羅淑蕾) accused the airport of overcharging its customers. A bottle of mineral water, for example, costs NT$80 at the stores in the terminal control area, which is about five times more than retail price, she said. She said the food prices in the terminal control area were higher than retail prices by 50 to 70 percent. The company said the airport has different brands of mineral water, with the cost ranging from NT$18 to NT$80. Meanwhile, the first and second terminals have a total of 75 vending machines and 305 drinking water fountains. The company said it was evaluating the possibility of doubling the number of vending machines. To meet the rising demand for fair-priced food, the company said it was considering having convenience stores in the terminal control areas.

CRIME

Tankers charged for oil

Two foreign tankers were charged with illegal oil trading some 6 nautical miles (11km) off the coast of Chiayi County, the Coast Guard Administration said yesterday. One of the tankers, registered in the Pacific island nation of Kiribati, was found to be carrying around 4.6 million liters of diesel with a market value of up to NT$100 million (US$3.46 million). The captains of the Kiribati tanker and the other ship, a Panama-flagged vessel, denied any wrongdoing when they were arrested earlier in the day. The coast guard said the two tankers violated marine environmental protection laws, because oil trading at sea poses an oil-spill threat that could damage the livelihoods of local fishermen.